Bead stilt



D. G. WOOD Oct. 7, 1958 BEAD STILT Filed May 9, 1956 INVENTOR.

DORIS 6. W000 I BY W W United States Patent BEAD STILT Doris G. Wood, Portland, Oreg.

Application May 9, 1956, Serial No. 583,771

3 (Jlaims. (Cl. 25153) The present invention relates to improvements in bead stilts, and more particularly to such devices which are adapted for holding beads in spaced relation to one another within a kiln while glazing the beads.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a stilt that will hold a maximum number of beads while they are being glazed in the kiln in a minimum amount of space.

A further object of the invention is to space and support the beads on the stilt in such a way that they will not touch one another or allow the glaze material to drip on other beads or the kiln while the beads are being fired.

Another object of the invention is to provide supports for each individual bead where the bead can be placed on the support or removed therefrom with the least amount of effort.

And a still further object of the invention is the provision of a glazing stilt for supporting within kilns various ornamental devices such as ear rings and the like.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following specification when considered in the light of the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention shown partially broken away for convenience of illustration.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, illustrating how the bead supports are mounted within the stilt.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating a modified form of the support.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures, the reference numeral indicates a cone shaped stilt formed of ceramic materials. The stilt 10 has a large base 11, tapering up to a small apex 12. and preferably having a cylindrical extension 13 upwardly therefrom to provide a handle for lifting the stilt 10 from place to place by the operator.

2,854,727 Patented Oct. 7, 1958 Bead supports 14 are fixedly mounted to the periphery of the stilt 10. One form of support 14 consists of a pair of wires 15 and 16, their outer ends being flared outwardly at 17. Bore 18 of a bead 19 is threaded over the ends 17 of the support 14 compressing the ends 17 toward each other to provide a tension Within the bore 18 for holding the bead at any desired position on the supporting wires 15 and 16, either closer or far away from the body of the stilt 10.

The supports 14 are preferably offset from each other on the vertical line so that the object being fired will not drip on the object supported below the same.

In Figure 3, I show a modified form of support wherein a single wire 20 is corrugated as at 21 to provide means to tension the bead 19 tending to prevent the bead 19 from sliding on the wire 20 while being supported.

In the operation of my new and improved bead stilt 10, the beads 19, or other objects to be glazed, are threaded onto the supports 14 or 20, and the stilt 10 is placed in a firing kiln (not shown) where it is fired in the usual manner, and due to the fact that all beads 19 are separated from one another and offset from one another on a vertical line, none of the glazing material will drip from one bead 19 to another head 19, nor will it permit the beads 19 to be stuck together by the glazing material.

Having thus described the preferred embodiments of the invention, it should be understood that numerous other structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A firing stilt for ceramics of the type having a bore therein comprising a conical body formed of refractory material, said body having a plurality of vertically offset bores extending horizontally therethrough in spaced parallel relation, and supports for said ceramics each comprising compressible means mounted in said bores and extending outwardly circumferentially of said body to tensionally retain said ceramics.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said support comprises a pair of wires projecting from said bores and having outwardly diverging outer end portions formed thereon.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said support comprises a wire projecting from said bores and having a corrugated ceramic holding portion formed thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

